After a weekend from the New York Times that issued a bruising and brutal cold-hearted Saturday crossword puzzle from Bob Klahn (who of us will soon forget, golconda, peripeteia, ochlocracy and xantippe?), followed by a delightful warm-hearted Frosty the Snowman puzzle by Elizabeth C. Gorski on Sunday, regular solvers are left with little to do but tuck the collective tips of their medullae oblongatae between their shanks and skulk off in appreciation for an end-of-the-year crossword which presents little humor or challenge.

With a last gasp, Father Time and Lynn Lempel bring the year to a close in the form of the final NYT puzzle of 2007, swiping it across the cranium to SOOTHE(22A Relieve) the perplexed grey matter after a horrendous Saturday and a humorous Sunday.

On the job! BLOODTYPING(10D Pre-transfusion procedure);NAMECALLING(25D Some verbal abuse);IRONFILING(17A A magnet attracts it in a physics experiment); and TOPBILLING(57A Star’s marquee position), along with (or for) CPAS(54A Inspectors of fin. Books) make this a Monday office worker’s special!

Plus, we get classic twin Shortzesque clues for NOTAWHIT(43A Zilch) and NADA(52A Zilch) -- the year’s last! This crossword SPLITSUP (28A Divorces)THEMET(32A Locale for a York diva) and her ARIA(15A Diva’s song) with a SPLAT(39A Tomato-hitting-the floor sound) of an EXIT (34D Escape route) from EDEN(60A Genesis garden)on theSKIDS(going to pot)(1D) with SCADS (1A Oodles) of SIN(8D Envy or gluttony) and WOE(44D Misery) -- OUI (23D “Yes, madame”), we ate the tomato!

3-letter, AGE, AIR, CON, DAM, DEN, DEN, MRI, and last but not least WIN(Carry the day)!

Did Lynn say WIN! In the event you think that I’ve taken this puzzle thing too seriously, two bloggers have taken on the hubristic task of handing out awards this year! Seriously! On January 4, 2008, the American Crossword Critics Association (ACCA) - which is just Amy Renaldo (Orange of Diary of a Crossword Fiend) and Michael Sharp (Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle) - will be handing out their Best of 2007 Crossword Puzzle Awards, with five categories -- so, roll out the red carpet! …or is it orange!

The New York Times Crossword Puzzle solution above is by the author of this blog and does not guarantee accuracy. If you find errors or omissions, you are more than welcome to make note of same in the Comments section of this post -- any corrections found necessary will be executed promptly upon verification.

If you subscribe to home delivery of The New York Times you are eligible to access the daily crossword via The New York Times - Times Reader, without additional charge, as part of your home delivery subscription.

This Sunday delight is headed by the note: The 16 circled letters, starting in square #4 and proceeding roughly counterclockwise, ending at #38, will spell the opening lyric of a popular song. Well, if you’re reading this, you’ve either solved the puzzle or I’ve ruined your fun!

Fun it is too! Intelligent and frivolous! While the diagram (or "grid", as some prefer) is a bit clunky with its black squares roughly (hold it a distance from the eyes) outlining a snowman; however, the circled-squares do so with much more finesse -- the top hat at the top of the diagram gives a top-heavy look to the puzzle, taking one aback at very first glance. I thought, “who’s going to wear that to a New Year’s party?” -- EVENTS(145A. New Year‘s Eve parties, e.g.) -- and then discerned a coal-like outline of a snowman -- so like a SERF (144A Lord‘s worker) or VASSAL(90A Lord‘s worker), (so Shortzesque!), proceeded to solve this romp in the snow.

The 16 circled letters, as you know by now, whether through your own imperturbation or the less subtle machinations of this commentary spell out F R O S T Y T H E S N O W M A N. I couldn’t resist putting little baby Frostys into the grid instead of the letters -- too much free time? Why no! If people can go out and roll snow into big balls, stack them, stick objects into the result, e.g., coal, carrots, pipes, whatever, place a hat on top -- 107A. Provider of an old silk hat, e.g. (as depicted at the top of this puzzle) = HABERDASHER -- or even wrap a scarf around it, stick twigs into it to indicate appendages, and give it a broom, then my efforts at continuing the tradition with this entertaining cyber-snowman construction is not so outrageous that I need to seek analysis, or is it?!

Onward -- after “FROSTY, THE SNOWMAN” is 3D. Lyric, part 2, after “Was a”,JOLLYHAPPYSOUL; 134A Lyric, part 3, after “With a”CORNCOBPIPE; 16D Lyric, part 4,ANDABUTTONNOSE; 114A Lyric, part 5,ANDTWOEYESMADEOUTOFCOAL. So to beat this to death, the following:

.

Frosty the snowman was a jolly happy soul,

With a corncob pipe and a button nose

And two eyes made out of coal.

Frosty the snowman is a fairy tale, they say,

He was made of snow but the children

Know how he came to life one day.

There must have been some magic in that

Old silk hat they found.

For when they placed it on his head

He began to dance around.

O, Frosty the snowman

Was alive as he could be,

And the children say he could laugh

And play just the same as you and me.

Thumpetty thump thump,

Thumpety thump thump,

Look at Frosty go.

Thumpetty thump thump,

Thumpety thump thump,

Over the hills of snow.

I feel like such a child! Well, let me tell you, as a child, we had a blizzard that closed the whole town down for nearly a month, nothing came in, nothing went out. Could not touch the window panes as they were something of a cross between glass and ice upon to which one’s hands would adhere as if with crazy glue. We bundled up ala Eskimo to sleep at night, and yet during the day, we did -- yes, we built a huge snowman, which spent the good part of the winter evolving with the weather, vandalism, repairs, smack dab in the middle of the front yard, where it terrorized the neighborhood for months!

I’ll dispense with the downs, so the snowman stays up as long as possible! -- with the exception of 1. FIESTA(Holiday Party); 2. IGLOOS(Homes that may have tunnel entrances); 58. SPARKLE(What icicles do); 118. FESTIVE(Holidayish); and 126. ANGEL(Harpist, of sorts) -- something else to do with the snow!

The New York Times Crossword Puzzle solution above is by the author of this blog and does not guarantee accuracy. If you find errors or omissions, you are more than welcome to make note of same in the Comments section of this post -- any corrections found necessary will be executed promptly upon verification.

If you subscribe to home delivery of The New York Times you are eligible to access the daily crossword via The New York Times - Times Reader, without additional charge, as part of your home delivery subscription.

A dozen ten-letter entries in sets of three occupy the four corners of this puzzle with no regard to rhyme or reason.

Upper left: BUBBLEBATH(1A Modesty preserver, in some films) is an odd-ball description. OPERASERIA(15A Old form of Italian musical drama) on the other hand is fairly straightforward, as is ADVANCEMEN (17A Public appearance preparers).

Lower left: HASAGOATIT(24D Tries something) was a very fair definition, as was the clue for OCHLOCRACY(25D Mob rule); however, a word not often used in day-to-day conversation, while the simple entry BOOTLEGGER(26D One running for work?) wanted to be VOTEGETTER, or anything else that could come to mind.

Lower right: PERIPETEIA(48A Unexpected turn of events, as in a literary work) is a word I haven’t seen in a quarter of a century. While PLATEGLASS(51A See-through sheets) is very common, the clue is opaque; and finally, EIGHTEENTH(53A Grant’s position in presidential history) is just a matter of enumeration.

The center portion of the crossword was a bit tricky -- I wanted XERES to be JEREZ (which it is, but not today); WITTY, LUSTY, PALMS, PROMS; NOTES, NOSES (I’m not kidding); kept thinking of June Allyson in the The Shrikeinstead of XANTIPPE, and was totally unfamiliar with GOLCONDA, wallowing around in a seeming quagmire in the middle of the puzzle, at which time my computer froze!

When everything was “back to normal” (unnecessary quotes necessary for emphasis), I had a clean slate and left out my beloved mish mash of a center, entering only FIRMA(27D Latin land descriptor). Thereon, the computer was so slow, I just stared at blanks awaiting to type until I was allowed to do so! If I didn’t have a blog, I’d had quit right then and there!

Finally, I printed what I had and completed it by hand -- and while I was somewhat perturbed, I’m sure this would have sent the crossword speed-freaks to their analysts, no matter what the time of night!

The New York Times Crossword Puzzle solution above is by the author of this blog and does not guarantee accuracy. If you find errors or omissions, you are more than welcome to make note of same in the Comments section of this post -- any corrections found necessary will be executed promptly upon verification.

If you subscribe to home delivery of The New York Times you are eligible to access the daily crossword via The New York Times - Times Reader, without additional charge, as part of your home delivery subscription.

Whatever can be said or not said about this crossword puzzle, it is full of seldom-seen entries accompanied by brutal cluing. Additionally, every letter in the alphabet is included -- some would call it a pangram, which it is not; but it could be called pangramish, which is about as clumsy a definition as possible outside of perhaps an alphabet soup. The very symmetrical diagram (or grid), with its double-cross and anchored edges is an attractive one at which to gaze!

The New York Times Crossword Puzzle solution above is by the author of this blog and does not guarantee accuracy. If you find errors or omissions, you are more than welcome to make note of same in the Comments section of this post -- any corrections found necessary will be executed promptly upon verification.

If you subscribe to home delivery of The New York Times you are eligible to access the daily crossword via The New York Times - Times Reader, without additional charge, as part of your home delivery subscription.

Five inter-related entries, by addition of the letter "C" to the beginnings of "oral exam", "on the lookout", "Old Folks At Home", "oil paintings", and "ovenware", convolutedly clued for the resulting CORALEXAM(17A. Certain marine biologist’s test?);CONTHELOOKOUT(23A. One way to get into a gang’s headquarters?);COLDFOLKSATHOME(35A. Eskimos in an igloo?);COILPAINTINGS(Pictures of Slinkys?); and COVENWARE(57A. Witches’ pots, pans, etc.?). I find this kind of cunning linguistics not entirely to my taste, as a single letter, in this case "C", becomes evident only upon uncovering at least two, maybe three of the conceits, requiring the solver to slog through five coyly-clued unamusing smarmy entries with perverted definitions. At least yesterday’s puzzle had three letters, e.g., "NYC"!

The New York Times Crossword Puzzle solution above is by the author of this blog and does not guarantee accuracy. If you find errors or omissions, you are more than welcome to make note of same in the Comments section of this post -- any corrections found necessary will be executed promptly upon verification.

If you subscribe to home delivery of The New York Times you are eligible to access the daily crossword via The New York Times - Times Reader, without additional charge, as part of your home delivery subscription.

NYC(38A. Song from 65-Across that’s hidden in 20- and 54-Across and 10- and 35-Down) and ANNIE(65A. Hit Broadway musical based on a comic strip); along with TONYCURTIS (20A. “The Defiant Ones” co-star, 1958);JOHNNYCAKE(54A. Cornmeal dish often served with maple syrup);FUNNYCIDE(10D. 2003 Kentucky Derby winner); and PONYCARTS (35D. Vehicles at a petty zoo), are the inter-related entries of this Wednesday crossword.

A pleasant puzzle with fairly equal-sized entries. However, I don’t much care for groups of ten-letter entries serving the purpose of a three-letter inter-related reference, and Tony Curtis, Johnny Cake (sounds like two thespians), along with the equestrian Funny Cide and pony carts entries, are no exception. They just land with a thud and seem lifeless. A little less lifeless, probably due to their being autonomous of any inter-relationship, are the eight-letter CANNABIS (40A. Hashish source), recently in the NYT puzzle as REEFER; and SET PIECE(36A. Movie chase scene, e.g.) followed by four seven-letter entries, DISCMAN(28A. Sony music player introduced in 1984);ARGYLES(43A. Some socks);MESSKIT(8D. Not backing); and BEIJING(41D. 2008 Olympics host).

Christmas has arrived at The New York Times! The greeting from Nancy Salomon and Will Shortz is given in five languages, once each in French, Danish, Spanish, Italian, and four times in English. Merry Christmas!

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